Last hurrah for beloved Malverne Cinema

Malverne Cinema and Art Center has officially closed its doors to the public. The beloved movie theater in the heart of the village on Hempstead Avenue — considered a historical landmark by many — welcomed patrons for a final time on Sunday, Sept. 29.

The theater’s fate is sad ending for residents who consider it a local insitution and Anne and Henry Stamfel, who have owned the theater since 1990. The finale comes at the end of several struggling years for the Stampfels, another pendemic-related business casualty. Closed for most of 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the theater was unable to find its footing after.

After a series of temporary closures, the cinema was able to reopen in May 2021 with assistance of a federal grant. “We received the SVOG Shuttered Venues Operator’s Grant for independent theaters. It’s a federal grant that got us back on track after covid and helped us get this far,” Anne Stampfel said.

The theater was generally full weekends from Thursday to Sunday, selling out its slate of films, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to support the theater’s continued operation. It’s simply too costly to keep open, according to the Stampfels.

“The HVAC system needs a major overhaul and that’s the main reason for the shutdown. Maybe the timing is just off,” Henry said.

Originally built in 1947 as a single theater, seating about 700 people, it had been divided into two theater by the time the Stampfels took over. They expanded it further, creating four theaters, eventually taking over the coffee shop next door in the mid-1990s to create a fifth theater.

In addition to Malverne, the Stampfels, also have also owned theaters in Bellmore, Hempstead and Long Beach.

“Everyone talks about the Malverne theater. We were very fortunate. The response was overwhelming, We were still doing very well before Covid. The village of was proud of us and we were proud to have them. It was a happy marriage,” Henry added of the patrons.

The Stampfels were surrounded by neighborhood movie fans for their last slate of films: “Reagan,” “Transformers One,” “Lee,” and “The Wild Robot.” The weather outside was gloomy and a tone of sadness was afoot, but inside patrons were laughing and smiling as they remembered the old days.

“We will absolutely miss our guests. In 1990, I took about a year off for maternity leave and we opened our Long Beach location. Even with the success of the Long Beach and Bellmore locations, the Malverne venue will always have a special place in our hearts,” Anne noted.

Moviegoers thanked the owners on their way out, and that gratitude was expressed in return. For many, this is the end of an era, lessening community access to local independent cinemas.

“We were there for 34 years. Malverne is a great village. We’ve had a lot of amazing customers. I’ll continue to have these friendships, but it’s sad to turn the page on this chapter. We are hoping that someone buys the theater out and takes it over,” Henry said.